


Bad Enough for You

by thehoundisdead



Series: song fics [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: (and it also born in modern times), Alternate Universe - Dave Lives, Alternate Universe - No Apocalypse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Diego Hargreeves is a Good Brother, M/M, Misunderstandings, anyway theyre both idiots here you go, ben is there in spirit, dave and diego are detective partners, dave pretends to be bad in order to seduce klaus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 16:43:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18502936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehoundisdead/pseuds/thehoundisdead
Summary: Dave can be bad. He doesn’t want to be but he can.He wants to spoon Klaus; to gather him up tight enough against his chest to hold all of his pieces together, to let him relax for once. He wants to take a bath with him and shampoo his hair and make him breakfast in bed and wrap him up in his softest blanket.But that’s not what Klaus wants, at least not yet. Dave has a strong suspicion that Klaus has never been treated softly by a partner. So, bad boy.based on the song bad enough for you by all time low





	Bad Enough for You

“Hey lover boy,” Diego smirks when Dave walks up to their desks, equipped with two computers and scattered pages of notes that Diego can never seem to organize.

“Hargreeves, for the last time, _please_ stop calling me that,” and though he means it, he also plays it down with a smile of his own. Because really he doesn’t want Diego to know just how embarrassed he still is or about the slight twinge of hurt that still comes up everytime he thinks of that night. What an idiot he was.

Six months ago, Dave decided to make an absolute fool of himself, dressed up and unwanted on the porch of the Hargreeves mansion. He’d put on his nicest jeans and a button up that brought out his eyes, if Patch could be trusted, and knocked on those giant doors with his right hand, a fresh bouquet of flowers in his left. He knew it was overkill, but, but Klaus deserved nice things and Dave was pretty sure no one had ever taken the time to really do that for him.

Dave would. He’d love to if only Klaus would let him.

When Klaus opened the door, his eyes were confused and hazy but he smiled all the same. _‘happy to see me’_ Dave had foolishly thought, grinning back.

“Are you here for Diego?” Klaus asked, cocking his head to the side, “let me go see if he’s here.”

“No!” Dave nearly shouted, right hand shooting out to grab Klaus’ arm, turning him back around, “I’m actually here to talk to you.”

“Me?” Klaus asked, cocky smile in place as his hip jutted out, hand lightly fluttering over his heart, “whatever could you want with little old me?”

“I wanted to...” Dave had stammered, hand going up to run through his hair. He’d practiced this in his head a million times but now it was all gone. So he thrusted his hand out, shoving the flowers at Klaus, “these are for you.”

“Uhh,” he mumbled, gingerly taking the flowers from Dave. Now he looked more confused than before and okay this is _not_ how Dave wanted this to go, “thanks?”   

“Do you wanna go out?” the words came in a sudden burst, climbing out of his throat as fast as they could, before he could even think about stopping them, “with me?”

“Haha, _David_ , very funny,” Klaus had said, letting out more of a huff than a laugh. But when Dave said nothing else, he stopped, face going serious, “wait really?”

“I mean...yeah?”

“Oh,” the word sounded reverent, surprised and happy and sad, “oh, honey.”

That’s when Dave felt his shoulders drop. Because _‘oh, honey’_ is never a good sign. Not for him at least.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Klaus said in a gentle voice, shifting his weight from side to side uncomfortably and _god_ Dave had never meant to make him _uncomfortable._ They stared at each other for a moment longer before Klaus pushed the bouquet forward once again, “do you want your flowers back?”

“No,” Dave shook his head, voice small even in his own ears, “no, they’re for you.”

“Okay,” Klaus was hesitant, foot moving backwards like he was ready to take a step away, “thank you.”

“It’s nothing. Really. Don’t mention it,” Dave had said, eyes trained on the floor, on the trim, anywhere but Klaus’ eyes. And then, swiftly he was turning, throwing one hand up in a half wave, “I’ll see you later.”

He didn’t hear Klaus’ response, if he even had one. All he heard was the soft click of the door shutting behind him as he made his way down the sidewalk, shoes scuffing as he climbed into his car.

To this day, Dave isn’t sure _how_ Diego found out. If he was there, listening, or if Klaus told him but either way his stupid partner somehow manages to find everything out. Usually, that’s to his advantage, being detectives and all. Not this time.

They’d never discussed it, thankfully, Dave isn’t sure he could handle that mortification again, but ever since that night Diego has been incessantly calling him loverboy.

It is not appreciated.

Because Dave still has a thing for Klaus. Even if he rejected him, even if he now comes to the station far less, eyes avoiding Dave like the plague when he does manage to scamper in.

It’s frustrating to say the least.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Diego replies, still as smug as ever, though now he’s handing Dave a cup of coffee so he guesses he can forgive him, “anyways we got a case and this one—,”

“Diego!” comes a voice from down the hall, quickly emerging into the bullpen, “thank god, Diego!”

And there’s Klaus. Dressed in leather pants, skin showing through the cross cross pattern along the sides, and a palm tree tank top. His eyes sparkle even as he storms in and Dave has to remind himself not to stare.

“Diego, I need—,” his voice cuts off when he looks up and it takes Dave a second to realize it’s because Klaus is staring at _him_ , “well, hel- _lo_.”

Dave takes a moment to look down at himself; he’s wearing dark jeans with a button up underneath a black leather jacket. His boots are chunky and black and he still has his motorcycle helmet—a new acquirement—clutched in one hand. He’s just wearing a normal outfit.

“Don’t we look handsome today,” Klaus says, running his a finger down Dave’s arm. It’s sends a thrill through Dave but he’s confused too, and by the looks of it so is Diego.

“Um,” his voice cracks so he pauses to clear his throat, hand coming up to his mouth in a fist, “thanks?”

“Klaus?” Diego asks from behind them, receiving only a little ‘hmm’ from Klaus as his fingers dance on Dave’s shoulder, “Klaus!”

“What!” Klaus snaps, spinning around quickly to glare at his brother.

“Why are you here?”

“Can’t a guy mosey on over to the police station just to say hi to his brother?”

“No,” Diego replies flatly, shaking his head, “not you.”

“Well I did this time!” Klaus snaps back, “you just don’t have any faith in me.”

“I have plenty of faith in you,” Diego replies, one eyebrow raised, “just not in this.”

“Fine then!” Klaus says, spinning on his heel to make his way out of the bullpen, “I guess I’ll see you later.”

He’s halfway out of the room when he stops, glancing over his shoulder and throwing a wink at Dave, “I’ll see you later too.”

And then he’s gone, leaving Dave to stare confusedly after him, eyebrows furrowed together when he looks over at Diego. Diego looks just as lost as him before he shrugs, grabbing the folder on his desk and saying, “He always did like bad boys, now c’mon, Katz, I’ll tell you about our case in the car.”

And so Dave’s plan begins to form.

~*-*~

Dave can be bad. He doesn’t _want_ to be but he _can_.

He wants to spoon Klaus; to gather him up tight enough against his chest to hold all of his pieces together, to let him relax for once. He wants to take a bath with him and shampoo his hair and make him breakfast in bed and wrap him up in his softest blanket.

But that’s not what Klaus wants, at least not yet. Dave has a strong suspicion that Klaus has never been treated softly by a partner. So, bad boy.

Sure, he’s not exactly positive on _how_ to be bad but he can try. He’s always been good at research. That’s how he finds himself hunched over his laptop in the dark of his bedroom looking at articles with asinine titles like _“8 Traits of Bad Boys You Can Borrow to Catch Women’s Eyes’_ and honestly usually his research is a little more dignified than this. But he figures, if he can just keep this up long enough to impress Klaus, then he can ease his way back into being a himself.

He makes a list, compiled from all of the different articles he’s read, things like _‘don’t look for approval’_ or _‘don’t seem overeager’_ and yeah those are definitely things he’s going to have to work on. His clothes are something he’s going to have to deal with too; he’ll probably have to go shopping, get more outfits like the one he’d worn today.

For now, he figures he’s learned enough. He carefully folds up his list and leaves it next to his phone, ready to be grabbed the next morning, and closes his laptop. He can do this.

~*-*~

The problem with the plan is that he’s not exactly sure _when_ he’s going to see Klaus again. His visits to the station are never planned; he stumbles in whenever he feels like it with no concern of the time or day. And he can’t exactly _ask_ Diego about Klaus because that’s the exact opposite of the vibe he’s trying to give off. So Dave is left to sit on edge, playing up an act for no one.

He’s sitting at his desk, typing up the report for their last assignment, or at least _trying_ to but he can’t think because Diego’s phone has been buzzing on his desk every five seconds for the last hour. The buzzing continues and mid sentence he feels his fingers stall on the keys of his keyboard, losing his train of thought.

“Hargreeves, will you just _answer_ your phone before I break it,” he snaps through clenched teeth, glaring at Diego where he sits slouched on the other side of the desk. His eyes flick up, squinting at Dave with a menace that had long since stopped actually intimidating him.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“I _would_ if I’m interrupted one more time,” Dave says accentuating each word. They stare each other down for a few seconds before, as if on queue, the phone buzzes again. Dave throws his hands up, eyebrows raising, “Just answer the damn thing, Diego!”

“Fine,” Diego snaps, snatching the phone off the tabletop, finally giving Dave a few moments a peace to finish their report. They sit in silence, Dave’s fingers moving rapidly on his keyboard, Diego putting his phone away and getting to work on his own computer. Casually, Diego looks up at Dave, waiting for him to look away from his computer screen, “You wanna get dinner tonight?”

“Sure. Where do you want to go?”

“I was thinking you could come over. To the house, I mean,” Diego says awkwardly, now looking away from Dave. But Dave is lost in his own thoughts, _‘at the house...where Klaus lives...’_ and that’s all it takes really, to convince him.

“Sounds good to me,” he replies, maybe trying too hard to sound casual, but really who cares. He’s not trying to impress _Diego_.

~*-*~

Standing on the porch of the Hargreeves mansion has lost all wonder since what happened; now it only holds judgement and an unforgiving coldness. With a bottle of wine in each hand (Diego has a lot of siblings okay) Dave stands there, seriously considering turning right back around and sending Diego an apology text, feigning a stomach ache. He shifts his weight, leaning from one side to the other and is about to forget the whole night when the door flung open and there’s Diego, eyebrows raised.

“Were you just going to stand here all night?”

“I was about to knock.”

“Sure,” Diego says in a tone that clearly says _no you weren’t_ and takes a step back, allowing Dave to walk carefully inside.

He’s been inside the Hargreeves house before but it still amazes him. Everything about it is massive and wondrous and just a little bit scary. Since their father died, though, it looked as though someone had tried to make it look a little more homey. Less gothic furniture and more family pictures and soft colors. It’s a nice change.

Diego and Dave have been partners for the last six years and he’s been invited over countless times, so he doesn’t hesitate to head right to the dining room on his own, nodding at Allison and Luther as he sets the bottles of wine down.

“Hey,” Dave waves, “I wasn’t sure how many were joining us tonight.”

“Oh, we’re-,” Luther starts, eyebrows drawn together in a confused expression, but is quickly cut off by a smiling Allison grabbing his hand.

“We’ve actually got other things to attend to,” she says, turning to make intense eye contact with Luther, “Don’t we, _Luther_?”

“Uhh,” Luther stutters, eloquent as ever before his eyes widen dramatically and without looking at his watch says, “Yes! Yeah we do and oh look at the time, we better get going!”

They flee the room right as Diego makes his way in, one hand rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly, the other holding his phone. Dave looks up at him questioningly, about to ask what’s wrong when Diego starts talking.

“So, Patch called,” he says as though that explains anything so Dave merely waits a moment for him to explain further, “She says it’s an emergency.”

“Oh,” there’s an uncomfortable moment of silence as Dave shifts forward, “Well, yeah that’s alright. She wouldn’t call unless it was serious.”

“Yeah, no, she wouldn’t,” Diego says, looking away, back towards the kitchen, “Look man, I’m sorry but I gotta head out.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s not a big deal really. I’ll follow you out,” he takes a step forward but is stopped when Diego puts his hand up.

“You should stay here. Klaus cooked a whole dinner and I’d hate for it to go to waste, y’know?”

“I don’t know, man,” Dave says, giving his best attempt at a laugh, “I don’t think Klaus really likes me all that much.”

“Oh he likes you well enough, loverboy,” Diego smirks, rolling his eyes a little, “Trust me.”

And then, before Dave can argue the point, Klaus comes flauncing in with messy hair, smudged make up and sporting a bright pink apron, frills and all. He heaves like he’s out of breath and there’s a slight blush coloring his cheeks. It’s a ridiculous look really, and yet Dave has never seen someone look quite so beautiful.

He stares for a second, but he can feel his list burning in the pocket of his jeans so he looks away just as quick. Eyes focused back on Diego, who is looking at Klaus with this _‘god what an idiot’_ smile on his face.

“Gather the family! The feast is almost ready,” Klaus exclaims, grinning and gesturing dramatically at Diego.

“I’m the only one left, Klaus, and I have to meet up with Patch,” Diego rolls his eyes, looking far less apologetic when addressing Klaus than he was just a moment ago.

“Ah well, I guess it’s just me and _Dave_ tonight,” Klaus says and Dave is pretty sure he’s turned to stare at him; he can feel Klaus’ eyes burning holes into him but he’s vowed to be more casual, pretend he doesn’t care. Instead of looking up to meet Klaus’ gaze he pulls out his phone, which feels tremendously rude, and pretends to tap buttons, “Send dear Eudora my regards, of course.”

“Of course,” Diego says with more sass than Dave thinks is necessary but Klaus is still grinning as Diego strides out of the room.

“Well Dave, I hope you’re hungry,” Klaus winks, one hand on his hip, “You’re going to have to eat for three and a half people.”

“Three and a half?”

“To make up for my flaky brothers and sisters,” Klaus said, waving his hand around the empty dining room, “And be warned, you’re eating for Luther. That’s not something to take lightly.”

“Hmm, I’ll keep that in mind, try to pace myself,” Dave quips, wanting desperately to grin at the satisfied smile on Klaus’ face, “Do you need help bringing the food out?”

“And have you take all the credit for my hard work?” Klaus remarks, faux scandalized as he sets his hands on Dave’s shoulders and directs him to the table, “No, you sit down like the handsome devil you are and I’ll grab the food.”

There’s a blush rising under his cheeks, hot and bright enough for Klaus to see, and it takes Dave about half a second to remember his rules. He looks down at the table and scoffs at Klaus’ joke and tries very hard to keep his puppy love eyes under control. His eyes stay trained on the table in front of him until he hears Klaus walk out of the room, only then letting out a sigh. He’d come over tonight because he wanted to spend time with Klaus but he thought Diego would be there as a buffer.

Klaus bursts back into the room with a tray of odd foods that smell surprisingly good. He’s not really sure what he was expecting as far as food goes, he didn’t even know Klaus _could_ cook, but a perfectly assembled plate lands in front of him and he’s definitely impressed.

At the center of the plate is a fully cooked red bell pepper filled with what looks like cheese, peppers and mushrooms. On the side are, what he would guess to be, two deviled eggs except for the fact that their perimeter is a bright shade of pink. Lastly, are a few cooked brussel sprouts, which smell better than they have any right to.

“Here, we have a chorizo and cheese stuffed bell pepper, beet pickled devilish eggs and charred brussel sprouts with anchovy butter,” Klaus says, looking incredibly proud as he sits himself in the chair beside Dave.

“I didn’t know you cooked,” Dave says partially because he really didn’t but also because he’s a little wary of the food. It smells good but it all looks a little strange and he doesn’t want to dive right in incase it’s, well, bad.

“A recent development,” Klaus agrees, watching as Dave twirls around his fork, “Being focused on something, though, is good for me.”

“And why is that?”

“Takes the edge off sobriety,” he whispers, voice conspiratory from behind his hand. And that, that really settles it for Dave. This is his project to help better his life and Dave will be damned if he doesn’t eat it and doesn’t _like_ it. He digs into the bell pepper and takes the largest bite he can fit into his mouth and _oh my god_.

“Oh my god,” Dave moans, eyes closing as he focuses on tasting the food. Everything is cooked just right, the flavors mingling together in harmony. When he opens his eyes Klaus is still watching him and he remembers that he’s supposed to be acting nonchalant so he says, “It’s pretty good.”

“‘Pretty good’ he says. I slave away all day in the kitchen and it’s just pretty good. No, no,” he argues when Dave goes to open his mouth, “It just means I’ll have to try harder next time.”

“Next time?” Dave asks, trying very hard to sound smug and not incredibly hopeful. He looks over at Klaus with a raised eyebrow and the corner of his mouth quirked up.

“What?” Klaus looks vaguely caught off guard, a feat in and of itself, but he quickly covers it up after a second with a smile that looks just a little too big for his face, “A bad boy like you already trying to get out of a second date?”

Dave wants to be happy, he wants to smile so big his cheeks dimple and grab Klaus’ hand in his own and thread their fingers together like he’s twelve years old sitting next to his crush on the school bus. But mostly, he feels like a bucket of cold water has been dumped on him because his plan is working, Klaus wants to go on a date with him but he doesn’t want to go on a date with _him_.

“I guess I’ll have to see how tonight goes first,” he smiles and takes another bite of his food, holding back a moan of delight, “So cooking. How long have you been doing it?”

“About five months,” he turns back to his own food, as if this conversation is no big deal, “give or take.”

And Dave. Dave wants to pick him up and spin him around the room and brush his thumbs across his cheeks and kiss his face and be generally disgustingly soft. But too much too soon is what got him into trouble in the first place. So he just nods his head and says, “That’s cool.”

“Cool, cool yeah, it’s cool. I can make things you’d never even imagine,” Klaus nods a little sad, before turning it on again, resting his head on his hand and batting his eyes at Dave, “I can also give you my number. You can call whenever you’re in need of my expertise.”

“I have your number,” and he _does_ but the idea that Klaus wants to _give_ it to him sends a jolt of happiness up his spine.

“Then there should be no problems, right?”

“I’ll call,” Dave says sincerely, “If you want me to call, I’ll call.”

~*-*~

Dave doesn’t call.

He wants to. He desperately wants to hear Klaus’ voice on the other end of the line, tinny through the wire. He almost wishes he had an old landline so he could call Klaus from his kitchen and twist the cord around his finger and laugh at some of the incredibly strange and wonderful things that Klaus says.

But the articles say he shouldn’t call. Many say he shouldn’t within the first week, they advocate waiting as long as possible, some say he shouldn’t even call at all. But they all, every single one of them, say he shouldn’t call on the first night.

So he fights every instinct inside of him, fights the itching in his fingers, fights his hearts desperate attempts to pick up the phone to call, to talk, to do whatever Klaus says. But that’s not what Klaus wants, not really, at least not this soon. He puts his phone down and walks away, out of sight out of mind, but he could swear it’s moving, like it’s following him around the apartment and that only makes his resolve weaken further. He goes to bed that night restless and uncomfortable, rolling from either side of the bed in a desperate attempt to fall asleep.

When he wakes, his phone is placed gently on the pillow next to his head.

~*-*~

It’s been a week and Dave still hasn’t called.

Not that he doesn’t want to, he very obviously wants to, but it's difficult. First, he waited because that’s what all of his research _said_ he should do and then the longer he waited...the more nervous he got. How is he supposed to pretend not to care over the phone? What is he supposed to say?

Because Klaus, well Klaus doesn’t _like_ him. He thinks he’s attractive, sure, and maybe he’s starting to think that there’s something more there but Dave is almost positive that a phone call would only make things worse for him. So he just...hasn’t called.

Dave has never claimed to be brave.

But it also means that this is the seventh day in a row he’s essentially fallen into his desk at work, already on his second cup of coffee, and nursing an ever present headache. He hasn’t been sleeping well and he’s starting to think he might be going crazy; he’s pretty sure his phone is actually following him around.

Diego stomps in fifteen minutes later, looking more angry than usual, eyebrow twitching every few seconds. He doesn’t even look at Dave as he sits down and immediately pulls out a case file they’ve been working on. Usually, Dave would try to pry out of him what was wrong but today Dave is tired and in a mood of his own so he just continues looking up information on his computer.

Across from him, Diego fidgets agitatedly for five minutes, flicking pages back and forth viscously. Distantly, Dave is worried he might rip some of the pages; he should tell him to stop because if any of those pages get irrevocably damaged, he knows _he’s_ the one who’s going to have to retype them. As is, his brain kind of feels like it’s melting so he figures if there actually is a problem then he’ll deal with it another day.

After a few more minutes Diego slams his body against the back of the chair, slouching down further and aggressively yanks his phone from his pocket. He taps a few buttons and holds it up to his ear. Dave thinks nothing of it until a second or two later when his own phone begins to ring in his pocket. Pulling it out, he stares confused at the screen in front of him.

“What the hell, Hargreeves?”

“Oh, so it does work,” Diego snaps, hanging up his own phone and slamming it down on their desk, “I was just making sure.”

“Um, okay,” he’s starting to realize maybe he’s going to have to deal with Diego’s mood, even if he really, _really_ , doesn’t want to, “Why would it be broken?”

“I don’t know, _Katz_ , maybe because you don’t use it enough.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m just _fine_ ,” he bites, hands slamming the files closed as he stands, “Come on, we have to go talk to the victim’s family.”

“Alright,” Dave concedes, not missing the way Diego twirls one of his knives around in his hand.

It’s going to be a long day.

~*-*~

By lunch the next day, Dave still hasn’t called and honestly he’s not sure if he even should at this point. Hasn’t it been too long? Besides, there was quite a few articles that said not calling at all actually worked. But he feels like a dick.

He sits at his desk with a half eaten salad playing with his phone, flipping it over again and again. He’ll call tonight when he gets off work, that’ll make Klaus happy, right? Maybe he waited too long though, and his window has closed. Maybe Klaus did want him to call that night but now that he hasn’t, Klaus has moved on. Or maybe-

“Where oh where is that dear brother of mine?” Calls a voice from the elevator that leads into the bullpen. Dave’s head whips around to catch site of Klaus as he walks over to Dave and Diego’s desk. He’s clad in a black netted crop top, leather pants and a hot pink boa. He looks ridiculous and sexy and Dave has never wanted someone so much in his life, “Hmm?”

“Uh, he went out to lunch,” is Dave’s witty response as he looks up at Klaus.

“Oh shoot,” Klaus says, snapping his fingers and fake pouting. He snaps out of it just as quickly though, smiling widely and plopping into Diego’s chair across from Dave, “Guess I’ll just have to talk to you, handsome.”

“I think I could tolerate that,” Dave smiles, trying to sound as flirty as possible, dropping his elbow onto his desk and resting his chin on his hand. Maybe not calling worked.

“Oh, just tolerate, huh? Is that why you didn’t call me?”

“I...” Dave feels caught out; he can feel the blush rising in his cheeks and he stumbles to find a cool response, “I didn’t-”

“It’s okay, really. Here I was thinking you were a wholesome midwestern boy but I guess you’re just another city guy out to break my heart.”

“I’m from NYC, Klaus,” Dave deadpans, to which Klaus just scoffs, waving the feather boa in his hand, “Born and raised.”

“As I _said_ , a city guy out to break my heart.”

“I wouldn’t break your heart,” Dave says, only realizing after it’s out that its altogether too sincere, so he quickly readjusts, “Probably.”

“You are wicked, David Katz,” Klaus says, leaning closer and batting his eyes, voice almost a whisper as he continues, “But I think you just might be good for me.”

“I could be.” _I want to be._

“So, since I apparently have to do all the work myself,” he says with a long suffering sigh, “Can I interest you, Mr. Katz, in a date tomorrow night?”

“A date?” _With me?_ “I think I could squeeze that in.”

“Perfect,” Klaus smiles at him, fingers reaching out to stroke at Dave’s hand where it rests on the desk. He only looks away when he hears Diego walk in, though Dave isn’t entirely sure how he noticed that, “Call me tonight, we’ll arrange the details then.”

“Okay,” Dave says, feeling like he’s in a daze.

“And actually call me this time,” he says with a smile as he stands. Dave feels himself nodding before he actually means to respond.

“I promise.”

“Excellent,” he smiles at Dave again, for just a moment, before he turns to face Diego right as he arrives. With both hands, Klaus grabs onto Diego’s face and yanks him down, pressing a flamboyant kiss to his forehead, “And you I will see at home tonight.”

And then he’s twirling out of the room, captivating as ever. It takes Dave much longer than it should to realize Diego is staring at him. He straightens immediately, cheeks heating up and he turns to stare down at his desk.

“He seems to be in a good mood,” Diego says cautiously, eyes still carefully studying Dave.

“That he does,” Dave nods.

“Any idea why that might be?”

“We may or may not have made plans for tomorrow.”

“Plans,” Diego says the word like he’s just now learning it. When Dave looks up he’s met with Diego’s grin, “Sounds like something to be excited about.”

“I hope so,” Dave murmurs, letting out a sigh of relief when Diego claps him on the shoulder and sits in his own chair, opening up his files.

“Now, I wanna talk to you about this case, I think there’s some details that we’ve been overlooking.”

~*-*~

When Dave gets home, he settles down on his couch and anxiously taps his fingers against the arm of it for all of fifteen seconds before he breaks and pulls out his phone. Maybe the article would advocate waiting longer but he’s pretty sure Klaus doesn’t want him to. At least he thinks. Or maybe Klaus only really wanted him to call because he _didn’t_?

He doesn’t have much time to freak out; Klaus answers on the second ring.

“Hello?” He asks, voice softer than Dave would have thought for a phone call.

“Hey,” Dave responds, trying very hard not to sound like he’s already in love.

“Ahh, so the city boy finally calls.”

“I’m sorry about that. I meant to, really-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Klaus mumbles, voice tinged with just a bit of sadness, “I know I can be a handful.”

“No! No, Klaus,” Dave very nearly shouts in an urgent voice and now he’s even more sorry; he never wanted Klaus to feel like _that_ , “You’re not, well okay I mean you _are_ , but I like that. I like you. Too much probably.”

“Yeah?” And this time Dave is pretty sure he can hear a smile in his voice.

“Yeah, I, Klaus you _have_ to know,” he says in a soft voice. There’s a second where Dave considers keeping up the act, pretending not to care, but he can’t, not now that he knows he made Klaus feel unwanted, “I think about you all the time. You’re, you’re so weird and captivating and beautiful. I could spend all day listening to you talk because you just, you notice the smallest, strangest things and you’re not afraid to do whatever it is that you want.

“And you, you talk to _ghosts_ and I still don’t know if that’s true, or if you and Diego have just been fucking with me this whole time but either way, you’re amazing Klaus,” he rushes out, taking a ragged breath, “I’m so sorry you thought you were too much, you’ll never be too much for me. I should have called you.”

“Dave,” Klaus says in a small, tender voice. He’s quiet for a moment and by the sounds of his shaking breathing, Dave thinks he might be feeling a little emotional too, “Dave. I _can_ talk to ghosts.”

“Of course,” Dave laughs, “I don’t know why I ever doubted you.”

“I don’t know, either,” Klaus laughs too, sniffling his nose when he breathes in, “I’m pretty good at it.”

“I believe you,” he all but whispers, “I believe in you.”

“I like you too,” Klaus whispers back, “In case you couldn’t tell.”

“It’s nice to hear,” Dave says, throat feeling raw. Drawing in a deep breath after a moment of silence, he say, “So. Dinner tomorrow?”

“Mmm,” Klaus hums for a moment, “Where do you want to go?”

“That korean fusion place you like?”

“You know the korean fusion place I like?”

“Obviously,” Dave laughs, rolling his eyes. In the last six years that he’s been partners with Diego, he can’t count the times Klaus had stumbled into their station, draped himself across their desk and begged Diego to get him food. More often than not Dave was the one who went out and actually got it, “You can be very demanding about food.”

“ _David!_ ” Klaus shouts, faux scandalized, “That is _very_ ungentlemanly of you to say. Besides, food is the way to a man’s heart.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Dave laughs, “What time should we meet? Seven or eight?”

“Seven, no eight,” Klaus quickly changes his mind, pausing to consider, “No seven. Seven thirty? Eight. Seven.”

“Seven?”

“Seven.”

“Okay,” Dave smiles into the phone, giddy and nervous, “I can’t wait.”

“Hmm, have you never heard of worth the wait?” Klaus lulls in a deep voice, only deepening when he continues, “Don't worry; I won’t make you wait long.”

“Klaus.”

“Dave.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says in a quiet voice, pinching himself to make sure he’s not dreaming.

“Tomorrow,” Klaus says back in an equally tender voice.

~*-*~

Dave shows up to the restaurant fifteen minutes early. He knows it’s kind of lame but he doesn’t want to be late and he wants to hopefully have a table ready when Klaus gets there. It’s not what bad boys do; most of the articles said he should show up late himself, but after last night he’s pretty sure Klaus just likes him. Actually likes him, not just this weird nonchalant persona he’s been trying to push.

So, he sits down at their table, tucked in the back next to a large window. He asks the waitress for two waters, tells her his date is coming any minute now. He’s too nervous and jittery to do much of anything besides tap his foot and wait.

And wait.

Thirty minutes go by and well that’s okay. Because Dave showed up fifteen minutes early so Klaus is really only fifteen minutes late. That could happen to anyone. It’s the city, there’s always traffic or some fight or anything really. Dave’s a cop, he knows that better than anyone.

“Have you decided on anything to eat yet?” the waitress asks when she comes back, a broad smile on her face.

“Uh,” Dave says, picking up his menu for the first time since he sat down, “I think I might need a few more minutes to decide.”

“Take your time,” she says in a too nice voice, eyes flicking over the empty seat across from him, “And are we still waiting on another party?”

“Yeah,” Dave says, but as the minutes tick by he’s not so sure anymore. He doesn’t miss the sympathetic smile she gives him as she nods her head and walks away, promising to be back in a few minutes.

Dave checks his phone. 7:30. No texts or calls. He checks the news; no disasters or date stopping crimes. He thinks about shooting a text to Klaus, thinks about asking where he is, is he still coming, what _happened_. Mostly, that thought makes his cheeks flare with embarrassed shame. Instead he send a message to Diego asking, _is Klaus okay?_

He gets a response five minutes later, _Oh he’s fine. Just yelling at ghosts in his room._

And that. Kind of breaks Dave’s heart. Because Klaus should be here, he _promised_ to be here but instead he’s at home. No call or text, he just let Dave wait. Maybe it’s pathetic but Dave waits another ten minutes, mostly because he knows when he leaves he’s going to have to face this.

Klaus doesn’t want him. He listened to everything Dave could offer and decided against him. His throat is clenched tight, hard enough to hurt as he flags down the waitress and in a shaky voice asks for the check.

“Oh sweetie,” she says, voice sympathetic, a hand reaching forward like she wants to lay it on his shoulder, “It’s on us. Don’t worry about it.”

He thanks her and stands on quivering legs, eyes trained on the floor. He’s embarrassed and sad and he rides his motorcycle back to his apartment in a haze. All he wants now is to lay down in the soft comfort of his bed and sulk. Maybe cry a little.

Klaus didn’t show up. Dave sat there like an idiot for an hour and Klaus never showed, never called, couldn’t even be bothered to _tell_ Dave that he doesn’t want him. He doesn’t want him.

Dave doesn’t sleep. He thanks whatever deity is listening that he doesn’t have to go to work tomorrow. He’s not ready to face the world, to face _Diego_. Diego will know. He’ll give Dave a sympathetic smile and probably make fun of him a bit and say, “ _I told you he only likes bad boys, Katz, I don’t know why you even bothered._ ”

Because he loves Klaus. That’s why he bothered. He spends a long time just staring at his ceiling after that, watching the world grow darker and darker around him.

~*-*~

Someone is pounding at his door. Loud thumps that seem to go on forever. Dave sits up quietly, pulling out his gun from the bedside table and cautiously walking to the door. He’s about to check the peephole when he hears, “Open the goddamn door, Katz!”

“Diego?” he asks, opening the door and letting out a sigh of relief, when a knife flies through the air so close to his head that it slices his ear, “Ow, shit Diego!”

“What the _hell_ are you doing with my brother?” Diego asks as he slams Dave up against the wall of his apartment, kicking the door shut behind him. Dave is confused and tired and just a little numb so it takes him a second to understand what Diego even means.

“I’m not doing anything with your brother,” his voice sounds bitter even to his own ears and that seems to set Diego off even more, he slams him against the wall again, pulling out another knife.

“You’ve been playing games with him for a month now, Katz,” Diego says through his teeth, knife brushing dangerously against Dave’s skin, “That’s your business, fine, but last night? Last night was too far.”

“What are you talking about?” Dave asks, bewildered. He looks past Diego when he hears a crash, sees everything that was on his counters is now being thrown to the floor by an invisible force, “Are you doing that?”

“No,” Diego answers and for a moment he seems just as confused as Dave before the gets back to the task at hand: beating up Dave, “And I’m talking about you standing my brother up!”

“I didn’t,” Dave starts, cheeks heating up when he remembers waiting at the restaurant last night, “Klaus stood _me_ up.”

“That’s not what Klaus said when he came back home last night. He tried to drink! Do you know how hard it is to watch your baby brother almost ruin everything he’s been working towards for so long and all for some _asshole_?” Diego shouts, slamming Dave again as he says it. There’s another crash behind them but Dave doesn’t get a chance to look because Diego just tightens his grip, “And here I thought you were texting me last night because you _cared_ about him.”

“I do!” Dave shouts, finally pushing Diego off of him, “I texted you _from_ the restaurant. Where I waited for over an _hour_ for him. _He_ never showed. He’s the one who decided he didn’t want this, okay? What _exactly_ do you want me to do?”

“That’s not, that can’t be,” Diego mutters to himself, eyebrows furrowed as he thinks, “Klaus was still at the house when you sent that. How could you have been waiting that long if Klaus hadn’t even left yet?”

“I don’t know!” his voice cracks and all he wants is a moment of peace, he’s tired and hurt and he doesn’t want to deal with Diego’s whole big brother act, “All I know is we were supposed to meet at seven and he never showed, okay? I sat there for an hour, looking like a fool and he never showed up.”

“No, no, Klaus said you were supposed to meet at eight. You stood him up.”

“Diego,” Dave sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, “On the phone Klaus said to meet there at seven, which I did. I even wrote it in my calendar if you want to look.”

And Diego does look. He checks the little square on the calendar that says _“date night with klaus :) @7pm”_ , he checks Dave’s bedroom, sees his date clothes thrown on the floor and his messy, unmade bed. He looks in the kitchen which has gone mysteriously quiet, sees the mess of everything thrown off the counters and whispers to himself, “Goddamnit, Klaus.”

“Look, I’m sorry about this,” he says when he looks up, slowly pulling his knife out of the wall where it had stuck after he threw it at Dave, “Do you want me to help clean up?”

“No,” Dave laughs in a wet voice, looking over as certain unbroken things begins slowly lifting back onto the counter. He sniffles his nose and runs a hand through his hair and says, “I just want to be alone right now.”

“Okay,” Diego shuffles awkwardly and makes his way to the door, “Again, I’m sorry. Are we cool? Still partners?”

“Still partners,” he rolls his eyes and waits for Diego to leave, locking the door behind him. Taking a second to just breathe, he stands there, looking over the damage in his apartment. Grabbing the broom and dustpan, he begins to sweep up the broken glass strewn around the room.

Great way to start the day.

~*-*~

A few hours later, there’s more knocking on the door, this time considerably softer. Dave swings the door open with a sigh, not bothering to look as he says, “Diego, really it’s okay, you can-”

“Oh,” he stops, when he looks up at who is in his doorway. There stands Klaus, in tight black jeans and a striped shirt that is not a crop top but just a little short, showing off the skin right about his waist line, “Klaus.”

“Did you stand me up?” he asks in a shaking voice and now Dave notices his red rimmed eyes and dark purple bags.

“No.”

“Did I stand you up?” his eyes are desperate but Dave isn’t really sure for what. His hands shake from where they hang at his side and Dave is hurt and raw but he still just wants to gather Klaus up in his arms.

“Yes.”

“ _Dave,_ ” Klaus sighs and flings himself at Dave, arms wrapping around his neck, pushing himself as close as he possibly can, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m an idiot, I fucked up, _Dave_.”

“Klaus,” he breathes out, hesitating before letting his hands come up to rest on Klaus’ rib cage, thumbs rubbing soothing circles. He wants to say _it’s okay_ , but he’s not really sure what’s going on, “Klaus, what happened?”

“I panicked! I freaked out and I forgot and,” he looks up from Dave’s neck to glare at the space behind him, “and a certain _useless ghost brother_ told me out date was at eight. I’m so sorry, Dave, you have to believe me, I showed up and I waited but you weren’t there, I didn’t mean to stand you up, I would never, I would _never_ -”

“Hey,” Dave cuts in, pulling back and resting one hand on Klaus’ cheek, “Hey, you’re alright, you’re okay.”

“It’s not okay!” his eyebrows push together and his lips tremble, hands moving frantically across Dave’s body, “ _Dave_.”

“Klaus,” Dave says in a stern voice, looking Klaus in the eye, “I showed up, you showed up, it’s okay. We both meant to be there.”

“How can I make it up to you?” Klaus asks, shoving his face into Dave’s neck.

“There’s nothing to make up for.”

“You’re too nice to me,” he mumbles, his words tingling against Dave’s skin.

“You deserve nice, Klaus,” Dave says back, pulling Klaus tighter into his chest, “You deserve it.”

~*-*~

A little while later, they’re laying on Dave’s couch. Initially, Dave had sat leaving enough room for Klaus to sit as close or far from Dave as he wanted. Klaus had looked at him, then looked at the couch, before flopping down so he was laying full bodied on top of Dave.

“Hold me,” he’d said and wiggled on top of Dave, allowing him to lay down as well. So Dave did, he wrapped his arms around Klaus and let him tangle their legs together, laying his hands on Klaus’ hips and rubbed his thumbs into the skin above his pantline. Klaus tugged at Dave’s hair, running his fingers through it again and again.

“I thought you decided you didn’t care, that I wasn’t enough for you,” Klaus starts some time later, voice soft in the quiet of the room, “Or maybe that you were getting back at me for turning you down that first time.”

“Klaus, I would,” Dave starts, shocked into picking his head up so he can get a better look at Klaus, “I would _never_ do that to you.”

“I know, I know, it’s just that,” he pauses, thinking about how to form the words, “It’s just that you seemed so cool. Sometimes it was like you really cared and other times like it just...didn’t matter to you. Even when I was basically throwing myself at you.”

At that, Dave lets out a loud breath, slamming his head back down, bringing a hand to his face, “I’m such an idiot.”

“What?”

“It’s just that, well your brother,” Dave starts, smiling when Klaus picks his head up to frown suspiciously, Dave just picks his hand up to brush through Klaus’ hair, making him preen like a cat in the sun, “He said you were into bad guys and I wanted...I wanted to be something you’d like.”

“Oh, Dave...”

“Well you rejected me the first time because I went over the top, I was too much and-”

“Wait, you think I rejected you because you were _too nice_?” Klaus asks in a shocked voice, sitting up as his eyebrows knit together, “I got sober for you and you thought I didn’t like you because you were _too nice_?”

“You got sober for me?” Dave asks following Klaus up, heart suddenly feeling warm and big in his chest.

“Well, no, I got sober for me,” Klaus says, shaking his head with a small smile on his face, “But you were the catalyst.”

“Klaus, that’s, that’s the best thing anyone has ever done, Klaus, _Klaus_ ,” and Dave can’t help himself. He pulls Klaus forward and kisses him square on the lips. Klaus makes a little shocked noise before moving closer, hand gripping tight to Dave’s shirt beneath him. When Dave pulls back his eyes are sparkling, his smile wide, “I love you.”

“I-what? Dave? Did you just say you loved me?” Klaus asks like he’s never heard the words before and Dave really can’t handle that.

“Yes. I love you, Klaus.”

“I love you too,” he says in a soft, private voice before pulling back further, “wait, what the fuck? Why are you acting like you didn’t know all of this already?”

“I didn’t!”

“I told you I got sober five months ago!”

“I asked you out six months ago!”

“The first month is full of mishaps! It doesn’t happen right away!” Klaus laughs, grinning when Dave’s grip around him tightens, “I cannot believe you were sulking while I was dying from withdrawals.”

“You turned me down, what was I supposed to think?”

“I had to get my shit together, Dave!” Klaus nearly shouts, throwing a hand up in the air like this all should be obvious, “You didn’t want to date a junkie!”

“I wanted to date you, Klaus!” Dave shouts back before softening once more, “I want to date you. I want all of your issues and all of your qualities and I want to help you with everything that you’ll let me and I want _you_.

“You didn’t have to get sober alone, Klaus, I would have stood by you,” Dave says after a moment of silence, hand reaching forward to hold Klaus.

“ _Dave_ ,” and now Klaus is definitely crying but he’s smiling too so Dave thinks it must be good crying. After a second he laughs, wiping at one of his eyes, “I didn’t do it alone. Ben helped.”

“Ben?”

“He says he’s sorry about your kitchen, by the way,” Klaus laughs again, “He did it when he still thought you stood me up.”

“Ahh, Ben,” Dave smiles, “Well you can tell him it’s okay, if I had stood you up I would have deserved it.”

Klaus smiles at him, leaning forward to press their foreheads together, the side of his nose resting against the side of Dave’s. It’s a nice moment, before Klaus pulls back with a laugh, “Wait, so all of that, from the last few weeks, that was you trying to be a bad boy?”

“I,” Dave can feel the blush burning his cheeks under Klaus’ gaze, “That’s what Diego said you liked!”

“Diego, is an _idiot_ ,” Klaus laughs again, “I don’t like bad boys, I just like _you_.”

And that. That makes Dave not want to talk anymore. He pulls Klaus forward again and kisses him soft, lips moving slowly together. Klaus lets out a little whimper and whispers, “ _no one’s ever been this soft with me before_ ,” and Dave vows to change that. His hands touch over Klaus’ skin like he’s worshiping and his lips move like a prayer, ghosting over Klaus’ lips, his jaw, his neck, too gentle and too much and just enough to make Klaus’ toes curl.

~*-*~

Klaus still comes into the police station. He flounces around and teases the other detectives and wears the most outrageous, stunning outfits. But instead of shouting for Diego he’ll call out, “Where, oh where, is my roguishly handsome boyfriend?”

“Klaus,” Dave will laugh, looking up from his work to greet his boyfriend and Klaus will grin wide before collapsing onto Dave’s lap with a flair.

“Ah, I’ve found him, that devil, that fiend,” and Dave will cut him off with a quick kiss on the lips and Klaus will look at him with this mesmerized smile, a little happy and a little loopy and ask, “Are you still coming over tonight?”

“Of course.”

“Good,” Klaus will say and loudly announce, “I can take you up to my room and ravage you, loud enough to scar-”

“Klaus,” Diego will chastise from the other side of the desk, rolling his eyes and pretending he’s not happy that Klaus is finally happy and settled, “We’re at _work_.”

“Fine, fine,” he’ll wave off, standing up and brushing himself off, “Since listening to our love is too much for your little baby ears-”

“Klaus.”

“Fine!” Klaus will snap and turn to Dave one final time, leaning down to kiss him once more and smile, “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Tonight,” Dave will smile back.

 

Seven months. It was seven months of hurt and confusion and struggling but it was worth it. Klaus would alway be worth it.  

 


End file.
